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Category: march to war

Sun. Dec. 14, 2025 – catch up day?

Warm to start, but supposed to plummet. We’re supposed to get a freeze sometime soon. Probably not until tonight though. It was crazy humid yesterday. Dripping wet and dew everywhere. Warm too. Pretty gross all in all. A bit cooler would be nice, but dropping to freezing is not nice at all.

Had my non-prepping hobby Christmas party. It went well and a good time was had by all. W even got a pretty great gift. She stole a Klein multi driver from one of the other ladies. That lady has the best luck finding the real, good gifts, and the worst luck with people stealing them. I think she had her gift stolen 5 or 6 times. She did end up with a nice set of Husky brand screwdrivers, but the Klein was better.

Today I’ll sleep in a bit, then do house stuff. It would be nice to get the tree up, and decorated. And I have to take a look at replacing the headlights on my Ranger. They are awfully dim. I’ve got replacements here but haven’t taken the time. Now it’s time.

I’ll probably do some freeze prep too. The sprinkler backflow preventer needs to be drained. I usually forget and have to rebuild it. Maybe I’ll remember this time.

In any case, the usual stuff is waiting along with some new items on the list. It’s a great life if you don’t falter. So don’t falter.

Stack.

nick

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Thur. Dec. 11, 2025 – countdown to Christmas continues

Cool and clear, sunny and warmer later. Nice, for cooler values of nice. Yesterday was very comfortable from about 10am to 6pm. Too cool before and after. Today and tomorrow should be the same.

I didn’t do a run from storage to my shop, but I did get a bunch of domestic bliss done. I cut my hair, washed and folded laundry. Cleaned some stuff up. Got out some more Christmas decorations.

I’ve been cutting my hair since the wuflu lockdowns, but I dropped my clippers and they haven’t been the same since. The last couple of times were very slow, and the result wasn’t up to previous times. My backup clippers were at the BOL, so I had a chance to bring them home this week. What a difference. Wahl Pro are smooth and quiet compared to the cheaper Wahl clippers. Don’t know why I kept the basic ones here and put the nice ones in the closet at the BOL, but they won’t be going back there. I have another set of basic clippers there anyway.

Clipper cuts might not be your choice, but having specialist tools for the specialist jobs makes them easier. At least have a set of good hair cutting scissors and combs. A couple of safety or straight razors and a styptic stick and strop would be a nice deep prep. Nail care tools are essentials too. Remember that infections used to be deadly and could be again. Taking care of fingernails, and especially toenails, is critical for good health.

Even if you usually have someone to do certain things for you, having the tools and some practice doing it yourself is valuable, whether it’s hygiene or auto repair.

Stack the stuff you need to do the common jobs you normally outsource. The day might come where it saves your bacon.

nick

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Wed. Dec. 10, 2025 – Louis Prima, Louis Jordan, Louis Armstrong… all the Louis

Cool, like jazz. But moist, like cake. And clear, if I get my way. Dunno if the universe will feel like it though. It got into the 60sF yesterday and I took off my jacket and overshirt when I started sweating… but only in the sun. Shaded areas were still cold.

I did auction stuff in the morning, then a pickup in the afternoon. I took one load of stuff from storage to shop, but I’ve got a half dozen more to do, and nowhere in the shop to put the stuff. I have been just dumping stuff in, but will need to organize it a bit better to make room for the rest of it. Crazy.

Took the truck to the mechanic but he begged off until Thursday afternoon. He had some emergency work to do on two cars and his bays were full. I’m ok, it’s running and driving ok. I can wait.

When I got home I put out some more decorations.

Today I’ll do more of the same. I can put out some inflatables, and hang some lights. I can also move the stuff at the shop, and take another load there. It would be nice to get my shopping done for the non-prepping hobby potluck, and get my white elephant gifts wrapped too. Kids both have other commitments so it’s just me and the wife. They kids usually enjoy the dinner and gifts. The guys look forward to seeing them, as they’ve grown up attending, and they work the yearly show with me.

Oh, well, time passes and kids grow.

And stacks age out, so go through your stuff and start replacing the breakage. The good stuff isn’t gonna stack itself.

nick

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Mon. Dec. 8, 2025 – still at the BOL, headed home later today

Cool and wet, but the forecast calls for clear sky. We’ll see about that. It never cleared yesterday, and the breeze was chilly when the bright overcast was less bright. I think we’ll get the same today. Maybe mid 60sF.

I had a leisurely day yesterday but did get a lot of small things done. The biggest thing was getting the Christmas stuff up, which might not sound important, but demonstrates that we are here and consider this place important, and treat it like a home. I did get a chance to catch up with my fisherman buddy. He’s been tired and run down, the followup to the chemo is kicking his @ss. They’re gonna pause that for a month and let him get caught up. I haven’t been up in a while so it was good to see him.

Today I’ll do some more small things, maybe even mow the lawn. It looks ok but would look better mowed. I’ve still got lots to sort and put away.

And I’m making a list of stuff that I somehow missed, like jelly for toast. Time to bulk up the TP stash too. Too many women in this house this year…

Stack stuff, but don’t forget to stack some good times and to maintain real life relationships. The holidays are a perfect excuse to touch base with someone you might have not talked to in a while. These are the good ol days.

nick

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Tues. Dec. 2, 2025 – stuff to do, will I?

Cold again. It never got warmer yesterday. It stayed within a degree of 44F all day. The precipitation did change, going to very light mist in the afternoon. Chill and wet. Fun times.

I did mostly small things around the house as I couldn’t use the truck for anything in the rain. Cleaning and sorting is a never ending job.

As part of that I sorted some of the various pouches of seasoning I have in the cabinet. I couldn’t find any of my stewed chicken slow cooker sauce. I had already thawed and put the chicken in the cooker, so I had to find something. Settled on some mexican flavoring, which ended up being pretty good and will probably go into the dinner rotation. I did throw out about 10 pouches of stuff that were hard inside or old. I suspect that someone else may have thrown out the pouches I was looking for…

Anyway, today we are supposed to be clear, so I’ve got some pickups to do and maybe some shopping. And I’ll be moving more stuff because we need to get the room clear for the Christmas tree. Part of the stuff in the room is waiting to go to the BOL, and wouldn’t be there if we’d gone the last couple of times we were supposed to go. Ah well. Next time.

There is always something that needs to be done, and always new things added to the list. Swapping out the DVD drive on my main pc means more office cleaning… and that means having somewhere to put stuff while I clean, and somewhere to put it when I’m done. A whole stack of tasks to do one simple thing… but that’s the way it is.

We’ll see when I get to that.

Meanwhile, if you still need presents, get your shopping done early. Don’t forget, you might need a present for yourself. You deserve it.

Stack what you need.

n

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Tues. Nov. 25, 2025 – 112525 – plans, I’ve got ’em

Cooler, wetter, darker? We’ll see. It did rain yesterday. And lightning. And sun. So we had all the weather. Might get the same today.

Yeah, it was a bit of a dog’s breakfast yesterday weatherwise, and that got me in a weird headspace which meant not a lot got done. I needed good weather to move out of my storage unit. Didn’t get it. I had enough to do some cleanup in the driveway though. And I did some cleanup indoors moving stuff into the attic. I’ve been taking stuff out of the attic too. There’s a bit of a sorting and shuffling and re-stacking going on.

Today we’ll see what happens with the weather. If it’s good, then I’ll get at least a load moved. I won’t be loading up for a trip to the BOL. W and I decided that the kids have too much going on this week. So instead of a nice week off, we’d have a non-stop tight schedule of moving from here to there. It sucks. I really needed to get 4-5 days of work at the BOL with some cushion if things went badly. No way I could get that if they were leaving Friday morning. I’m unhappy about how this week is shaping up, but it will be more relaxing and a lot less hectic if we do the holiday here.

One of the activities scheduled was going to the Renfair on Sunday. I would like to go this year, and that meant coming home on Saturday anyway. Get there late, leave early, nah. Not this time. Like I said, it sucks. Stuff changes though and you have to deal with reality.

Dealing with things as they are rather than as they “should be” is a skill that can be practiced and learned. It’s vital to success if you are not a chosen one with a smoothed path. But it is a pain in the fundament.

Keep working. Keep stacking. Don’t lose heart.
nick

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Wed. Nov. 19, 2025 – volunteering today

Warmer. Damper. Maybe wetter. We’ll see. It was 71F and very damp when I went to sleep. During the day it was very nice. Some clouds, but no rain. Hoping for more of the same today.

I did some stuff. Went to my client’s house to pick up my check and look at something else for him. Solved a tech issue while I was there. The Christmas light guys had left some connections in the mud and they tripped a GFCI that took out my wireless link from the gate back to the house. The first question when troubleshooting should always be “what changed”. Of course if you are really coming in blind, the first question should be “did it work before?” THEN you ask what changed.

I followed that up with three pickups in the southwest of Houston, and then home. Leftovers for dinner and kid taxi service took up most of the rest of the evening.

I did sit out for a tiny little fire and a book, and the possum came along the same route as before to get a drink from the ‘pond’. Then he departed without ever looking at me. The pond must be on his patrol route for every night. I’d bet there are some humans (probably walking dogs) that have a patrol route ever night too. I might have to enable some of the AI features on my newest camera and see if I get a log of any pedestrian traffic.

And maybe I should look at some of my commercial WAPs to see if there is a ‘presence’ log that captures passing wifi or blutooth traffic. I’ve had building something to do that on my low priority list for a long time. Two instances have already happened, the teens stealing from cars, and the mail thief, where it might have been useful to see what their car or phones are named…

So many things. So little time and motivation.

Today I’m helping my wife at the middle school theater. I’ll do some of the sound notes from last year, and help her with installing some other donated equipment. Should be able to get done by late morning. Might have to follow up another day. I’ve got pickups in the afternoon, and moving another load from storage to the shop on my calendar. We’ll see if that happens.

Meatspace and community involvement is important. The appearance of being normal folks, and being helpful to others is a good thing to have on your side, no matter who you are. It probably won’t save you if things go horribly wrong, but it might smooth out some smaller issues. Can’t hurt, and feels good. Win-win.

Always be working to improve your situation. Sometimes that is relationships. Sometimes it great big heaping stacks…

nick

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Sun. Nov. 16, 2025 – momentum, trying to keep moving

Cool, then warm. Really, several nice days in a row. Maybe even a week’s worth. I’m all for it. It’s been a mild year so far, and I’m finally enjoying it. Hope we get more.

I spent Saturday doing small things that have been on the list for a long time. Not quite piddlefarting around, but pretty close. It’s not the progress I’d like most, but it is keeping some forward progress. And it’s working on my physical surroundings, which Jordan Peterson says is important. I’m inclined to agree.

Today will be more of the same, since I know I’m not headed to the BOL. Maybe I’ll get a bigger task started, or even finish something. At this point, I’m counting any progress at all as a win.

Much of what I have been doing is taking me deep into some stacks that I haven’t poked at in a while. The outdoor stuff really hammers home the “dark” part about good storage locations. Even stuff that only gets indirect and occasional sunlight is breaking down from UV. Some of my storage tubs and a lot of the lids have become brittle. Some look fine, but fall apart when I lift them, with big chunks of plastic breaking off. Even some milk crates are showing signs of becoming brittle. Plastic buckets too. Cool, dark, and dry if you want it to last.

Check your stacks. Maintain them. Add to them.

nick

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Fri. Nov. 14, 2025 – half way through November already…

Cool and damp, followed by warm and damp, but the radio said no rain for a few more days. Back to watering the lawn I guess. It’s still very nice in the afternoon.

I did some small things, including trying a new way to cook dinner. I tried a pork roast in the crock pot without all the liquid, going for a slow bake. It worked out better than I expected, although I chickened out and added 1/2 cup water so the new potatoes and onion wedges would have something to cook in. I think it’s a good choice when I have to leave the house and won’t be home when a roast would have to go into the oven. It was well past 150F in 3 1/2 hours on the crock pot’s high setting. I would normally put it in the oven at 320F for about an hour for the 3 pounds. It might take an extra 20 minutes after that.

Packet gravy, and heat and eat bread rounded out the meal.

Today I don’t have any pickups so I can work my list. That’s my plan anyway. Nose to the grindstone, feet to the fire, once more into the breech…

And some sort of stacking is always appropriate.
n

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Thur. Nov. 13, 2025 – Friday the 13th comes on a Thursday this month…

Cool and damp again, getting very nice later, and maybe staying nice after dark. That’s how Wed. went, with some clouds during the day. I could use a bit more like this before Winter starts in earnest.

I did some of my stuff. Did a pickup. Spent a lot of time chatting with the guy who runs that office, and learned a few things. One of his competitors is closing a branch office. The reselling game is tough. I still expect a wave of big boys to come in and buy out (or force out) the mom and pops like with house flipping and investment properties. I watch new players come and go, and a bunch came in lately. I don’t expect them to last as they don’t seem to be attuned to the business. And everyone is having trouble getting good stuff to resell.

Today I’ve got pickups on the east side of town. I’ve been buying a lot less, and bidding on a whole lot less. I’ve still managed to buy a few things that should improve my situation and increase the stacks.

I’m sure that I have more plumbing in my near future too. But that’s for later. I had a moment of panic when I thought that Christmas was only 12 days away… but I realized it was just a bad waking thought and not reality. The end of the year will come rocketing along soon enough without me losing a whole month.

My subconscious must be getting nervous.

I’ll have to try the Scrouge McDuck therapy and spend some time swimming in my gold coins — I mean counting cans of food.

Stuff gets spoiled, stuff ages out. Adding to the stacks is always a good thing.

nick

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